Building    From 1859  To 1868

Atlas Dyeworks

Categories: Industry, Science

The Simpson, etc. plaque commemorates the Dyeworks which were at Victory Place 1859 - 68. This page refers to that site but also refers to the Hackney Dyeworks to which Atlas expanded. The photo shows the buildings in Hackney, not Victory Place, of which we can find no image.

Following the work done with synthetic aniline dyes by Perkin (discovery of mauve in 1856) the chemists, Maule and Nicholson, working in Simpson's Victory Place laboratory in 1859, created a dye with a red-purple colour which they called "roseine". The firm began manufacturing it and in 1860 it was renamed "magenta" after the Battle of Magenta, 1859. A commercial success.

In 1868 Maule and Nicholson retired and the firm became Brooke, Simpson & Spiller.

From Homunculus we learn: "In 1873 William Perkin sold his dye company to ... Brooke, Simpson and Spiller."

The RSC Historical Group Newsletter, February 2010, says "... the dyeworks soon outgrew the Victory Place site, and a bigger workplace was built at Hackney, with a research block, a tall central chimney and a giant Atlas figure proudly proclaiming aloft their successful pioneering venture." In 1987 The Hackney Society lists The Atlas Works, Berkshire Road, as a "building at risk". That source says it was built in 1863 and that in 1983 part of it was demolished, including the frontage "topped by a large stone statue of Atlas."

1910-58 the Atlas Works was occupied by The British Patent Perforated Paper Company, one of the first British companies to manufacture continuous and perforated toilet paper, Bronco.

CgMs, an archaeological desk-based assessment, is a planning report which includes the history of the area. It contains a various maps etc. which make it clear that Atlas Works was on the northern half of the block contained by Berkshire Road, Wallis Road, the River Lea Navigation and an unnamed access road.

We can discover nothing about the fate of Atlas himself.

And next door to the Atlas works was the Parkesine factory.

This section lists the memorials where the subject on this page is commemorated:
Atlas Dyeworks

Commemorated ati

Bronco toilet paper

Bronco, the first perforated toilet paper, was developed here. The firm origi...

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Simpson, Maule and Nicholson

The rather odd wording of the plaque is explained by an item in the RSC Histo...

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Other Subjects

Charles Rolls

Charles Rolls

Born 35 Hill Street, W1, son of Lord Llangattock, John Rolls. A keen racing cyclist, he became the fourth man in England to own a car, took to racing cars and repeatedly broke the land speed record...

Person, Aviation, Commerce, Industry, Seriously Famous, Transport

1 memorial
Frank Pick

Frank Pick

Pioneer of good design for London Transport. Born Lincolnshire. Click on the picture source web site for more information.

Person, Art, Industry

2 memorials
New River Company

New River Company

See the New River for an explanation of why the New River Company came into being.  Puzzled why the Company should have been so involved in rebuilding after war damage we found the explanation at A...

Group, Industry

6 memorials
garment and textile industries in the East End

garment and textile industries in the East End

The origins of the East End textile industry can be traced to the 14th century when Flemish artisans set up dye works on the River Lea. In the late 17th century the Huguenots arrived in Spitalfield...

Concept, Commerce, Craft / Design, Industry

4 memorials
Tea Trade in London

Tea Trade in London

The following text is taken from the Shoreditch plaque: This plaque commemorates 350 years of the tea industry in the City of London. The industry was spread over Plantation House (now Plantation ...

Group, Commerce, Food & Drink, Industry

3 memorials

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Hoxton Hall

Hoxton Hall

Built 1863 as Mortimer's Music hall. 1866 MacDonald took it over but in 1871 following complaints it lost its performance licence.  Bought in 1879 by rich Quaker philanthropist William Isaac Palmer...

Building, Community / Clubs, Music / songs, Religion, Theatre

1 memorial
Doorcase

Doorcase

N16, Stoke Newington Church Street, 171-3

This masonry fragment is probably part of a pediment and, to our eye, shows classical, not medieval, features. Perhaps the mansion had la...

1 subject commemorated
Yoko Ono

Yoko Ono

Avant-garde artist, misician, peace activist, feminist. Born Japan. Met John Lennon when he visited a preview of her exhibition at the Indica Gallery at 6 Masons Yard, on 9 November 9, 1966.

Person, Art, Music / songs

1 memorial